About

The Brownie Mary Democrats of California are one of only six state-wide Democratic organizations to be officially chartered by the California Democratic Party. We are the first marijuana organization ever to be officially connected and a part of a major political party.

Our mission is to:

Promote the Democratic Party and the election of Democrats to office on the federal, state and local level

Protect the rights of medical marijuana patients

Repeal marijuana prohibition and replace it with a legal system that allows marijuana to be safely, reliably, locally and affordably accessible

End the futile, racist, inhumane and extortionate War on Drugs

Working within the California Democratic Party, we have made ending marijuana prohibition a major priority. It wasn’t always that way. Planks calling on the California Democratic Party to support the legalization of marijuana had failed many times. In 2014, BMD-CA introduced a plank calling on the Party to support “the legalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana in a manner similar to tobacco and alcohol.”

It passed by a unanimous vote of the delegates at the 2014 state convention. The largest political party in the nation as well as the party that is in charge of the government of the sixth largest economy in the world, officially put its imprimatur in support of ending marijuana prohibition.

The passage of the resolution set the stage for the Party’s endorsement and active support of Prop. 64 which was one of the major reasons for the success of California’s marijuana legalization initiative.

In 2016, there were almost 8 million registered Democrats in California. Polls showed that 60% of Democrats favored legalization, but that left over three millions Democrats opposed or sitting on the face. With much of the Party’s 2016 campaign literature supporting a yes vote on Prop 64, many believe that it was this fervent support of the California Democratic Party that convinced many of these undecided Democrats to vote yes on Prop. 64. This large number of Democratic votes resulted in an overwhelming victory with 57% of the vote.

Although local governments cannot ban personal possession or the cultivation of 6 plants per residence, many cities and counties are opting to use their zoning ordinances to ban the implementation of the commercial cultivation, manufacture and distribution of marijuana permitted under Prop. 64. This makes legal local access difficult if not impossible for many California residents.

BMD-CA is working to undo these bans by connecting local marijuana activists with local Democratic Party members to contact and convince local Democratic office holders to support and introduce the necessary local ordinances to allow for the implementation of Prop. 64’s provisions allowing for the commercial production and distribution of marijuana.

Marijuana still remains illegal on the federal level. With the current Republican administration in charge of all three branches of the federal government, undoing federal prohibition remains an uphill battle. BMD-CA is proud that over 95% of the California Democratic congressional delegation continually supports with their votes in the House of Representatives, legislation that will ease the current laws on marijuana prohibition as well as allowing states to regulate marijuana free of federal interference.

Most California Republican congressional representatives continue to support the Trump administration and his AG Jeff Sessions to roll back any attempts by states to legalize marijuana as well as re-invigorate the War on Drugs which the Obama Administration had begun winding down. BMD-CA will work with Democrats everywhere to restore Democrats to control of the federal government,

BMD-CA will work to:

Work with CaDEM and elected Democratic officials on the state and local level to actively support the implementation of Prop. 64 and to make those changes deemed necessary to improve it

Coordinate actions to develop support amongst California state legislators to protect the rights of medical marijuana patients and make access for both medical marijuana patients and adult use consumers safe, reliable, legal and AFFORDABLE

Work with the California Democratic congressional delegation to support enacting federal legislation to support the ability of states to legalize and regulate marijuana

Network with Democrats across the country to form their own organizations within their local and state Democratic Parties to achieve the same success that we have achieved in California.

Introduce a plank in the national Democratic Party platform similar to the legalization plank in the CaDEM Party platform which calls on Democrats “to support the legalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana in a manner similar to tobacco and alcohol.”

Form coalitions across a broad spectrum of progressive organizations to bring an end to the War on Drugs and develop a policy based on science and compassion to deal with the problems caused by the abuse of both legal and illegal drugs.

The Brownie Mary Democrats of California is open to all California Democrats. We invite you to join us. As a member you will receive periodic updates on our meetings, events and actions.

Membership in the statewide organization allows you to attend our general membership meetings held twice annually at the Democratic Statewide Convention and at a least one of the Executive Board meetings. You will also be able to participate in our statewide teleconferences where you can join us on the phone in the comfort of your own home or wherever you happen to be at the time.

Standard memberships in the Brownie Mary Democrats of California are only $10, seniors, veterans, students and low-income are only $5 with free memberships available for those who are financially insolvent. To join CLICK HERE.

Thank you for your interest and participation with the Brownie Mary Democrats of California. If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact me anytime at 760-799-2055 or send an email to lanny@browniemarydemocrats.org.

BTW - If you are currently not registered to vote or want to change your party affiliation to Democrat, you can do so by CLICKING HERE.